after watching some of bruno's q2 qualifying laps I notticed that he was just too smooth, leaving a lot time on the table, especially after watching the onboard in the last sector in abu dhabi, he was just not carrying enough speed, and not attacking the curbs as hard as he should, the car looked very well balanced, I dont know if it was just a lack of confidence or what, he was always qualifying around 14th, I dont know what he would have lost if he just tried to be more agressive in attacking the curbs. what do you guys think?, I really think he is a lot better than the performance he showed, shame he didnt get the brawn drive in 2009, as I think he would have given button a run for his money because the tyres were easier to warm up as that has been his problem with the williams car.

His driving styles just didn't suit the pirrellis so he needed set up spot on to compensate and if you are having 1.5hrs less than most others on track you will suffer simple. He proved in lower formula and Renault he can be fast in quali.

Maybe he's nothing special, but I don't feel like we've seen his best. I can't think of anyone who was so good in the wet at GP2 level without turning into something worthwhile at F1 level. He had a very compromised path to F1 that left him behind his contempories on the learning curve. I think there's an argument to be made for him possibly having more untapped potential than others of his generation because of that.

_________________I went skating on your name,And by tracing it twice,I fell through the ice,of Alice

His qualifying was downright embarrassing at some points in the season. This was especially so at Barcelona when Maldonado secured a front-row place and Bruno spun off clumsily into the gravel. There were a number of qualifying sessions wherein Maldonado showed his superiority:

The argument that Senna's end results were on-par with Maldonado's is valid, but is perhaps only used to hold on to the hope that Bruno could remain in the sport. Williams needs star drivers at the moment and Senna hasn't shown himself to be one. Valtteri Bottas may prove himself to be unimpressive in the months to come and that may open the door for a Senna return, though the Brazilian isn't a youngster anymore and a return to the sport at 30 years old won't be easy for him, nor will it be an attractive prospect for a Formula One team.

Button has shown himself to be a match for Hamilton and I can't see a first-year Senna having been able to challenge Jenson for the title. Honda offered Alonso a drive in 2008, though. Now that would've been fun to see.

Bruno was only 2 tenth slower than Button in the 2009 Brawn test, but Brawn decided to choose Barrichello for his immense experience.His smooth style doesn't fit very well with Pirelli tyres in the single lap, but it works well in race conditions (where he outpaced Maldonado many times despite losing FP1).

Bruno was only 2 tenth slower than Button in the 2009 Brawn test, but Brawn decided to choose Barrichello for his immense experience.

But since when has testing been a test of out-and-out driver ability? If Brawn (Though was it not a test carried out when the team was still Honda?) had thought that Bruno was the next big thing, you'd have thought they would have signed him. After all, the team didn't know if they were going to survive into 2010 - what good was an experienced driver over one that might blitz the field in '09?

shift wrote:

His smooth style doesn't fit very well with Pirelli tyres in the single lap, but it works well in race conditions (where he outpaced Maldonado many times despite losing FP1).

That's an excuse, but it doesn't completely defend Bruno. If he was a top driver, you'd have expected him to have worked around that before the end of a 20-race season. It's not as if it was a problem that was inherent within the FW34 as his team-mate had no such issues.

Unfortunately for Bruno, being smooth with the wheel doesn't necessarily result in a fast lap time. It may have helped his tyre conservation, and perhaps that is why his race results were closer to Maldonado's, but Button - widely regarded as the 'smoothest' driver in recent years - didn't suffer like Bruno in qualifying.

shift wrote:

Next years tyres will be easier to put in the right temperature window, so i see a faster Senna in qualify too.Only hope that someone will give him another opportunity.

the quali gap between JEV and RIC is very similar to the gap between senna and maldonado, the difference is that vergne starts very near his team mate even if he was way slower, whereas senna starts 15th and maldonado makes it to q3.

Unfortunately for Bruno, being smooth with the wheel doesn't necessarily result in a fast lap time. It may have helped his tyre conservation, and perhaps that is why his race results were closer to Maldonado's, but Button - widely regarded as the 'smoothest' driver in recent years - didn't suffer like Bruno in qualifying.

Button suffered a lot with tyre temperature this year in qualify, and he is far more experienced than Bruno:

Bruno was only 2 tenth slower than Button in the 2009 Brawn test, but Brawn decided to choose Barrichello for his immense experience.

But since when has testing been a test of out-and-out driver ability? If Brawn (Though was it not a test carried out when the team was still Honda?) had thought that Bruno was the next big thing, you'd have thought they would have signed him. After all, the team didn't know if they were going to survive into 2010 - what good was an experienced driver over one that might blitz the field in '09?

shift wrote:

His smooth style doesn't fit very well with Pirelli tyres in the single lap, but it works well in race conditions (where he outpaced Maldonado many times despite losing FP1).

That's an excuse, but it doesn't completely defend Bruno. If he was a top driver, you'd have expected him to have worked around that before the end of a 20-race season. It's not as if it was a problem that was inherent within the FW34 as his team-mate had no such issues.

Unfortunately for Bruno, being smooth with the wheel doesn't necessarily result in a fast lap time. It may have helped his tyre conservation, and perhaps that is why his race results were closer to Maldonado's, but Button - widely regarded as the 'smoothest' driver in recent years - didn't suffer like Bruno in qualifying.

shift wrote:

Next years tyres will be easier to put in the right temperature window, so i see a faster Senna in qualify too.Only hope that someone will give him another opportunity.

Unfortunately for Bruno, being smooth with the wheel doesn't necessarily result in a fast lap time. It may have helped his tyre conservation, and perhaps that is why his race results were closer to Maldonado's, but Button - widely regarded as the 'smoothest' driver in recent years - didn't suffer like Bruno in qualifying.

Button suffered a lot with tyre temperature this year in qualify, and he is far more experienced than Bruno:

And these people from Williams said Bottas is fundamentally the quickest of Maldonado, Senna, Bottas trio, which tells awful lot about how horrible Senna was this year and how badly Williams drivers underperformed due to their driving, be it being slow or crashing or getting penalty every weekend.

And these people from Williams said Bottas is fundamentally the quickest of Maldonado, Senna, Bottas trio, which tells awful lot about how horrible Senna was this year and how badly Williams drivers underperformed due to their driving, be it being slow or crashing or getting penalty every weekend.

Agreed the average fan wouldn't have a clue regarding testing times due to fuel loads etc, but certainly Williams have all the data they need to decide Bottas is the better bet